Authentic Parenting in a Postmodern Cultureby
Mary E. DeMuth

Reviewed by Kevin Lucia

"...a
guide for finding new, relevant ways to teach unchangeable, bedrock
Biblical values to our children in perhaps one of the most turbulent
of ages."

It’s one of the greatest fears every Christian parent has: that
their children will one day rebel, make life-damaging choices, and sway
from Christ. No Christian parent can honestly claim the thought hasn’t
plagued them, especially in today’s sensual, post-modern, and amoral
world.

The problem is, many young parents
are dealing with so many spiritual issues themselves, the added burden
of “training a child in the way
he should go” is like the proverbial straw that broke the camel’s
back. Today’s generation of parents primarily come from an era in
which their faith was dictated to them, rather than modeled, explained,
taught, and passed on, so they feel a bit lost and confused themselves
as they face a new generation of youth who have been primed from birth
to question, test, and push the boundaries of authority.

Authentic Parenting
in A Postmodern Culture, by Mary DeMuth, is an excellent devotional speaking to the issue
of navigating the confusing waters of
Christian parenting in a postmodern world. Don’t let the “postmodern” in
the title scare you off; this is a guide for finding new, relevant ways
to teach unchangeable, bedrock Biblical values to our children in perhaps
one of the most turbulent of all ages.

Using plain, practical language,
DeMuth proposes all the same core, essential truths of the gospel we’ve all been taught, but along the way she
highlights many different types of parenting, modeling, and relational
practices that can better help parents not only pass on these values, but
help root them firmly in their children’s lives.

One of the highest points of
the devotional is its strong emphasis on parents building a relationship
with their children, and modeling the Christian
walk through this, rather than browbeating lectures and force-fed Bible
reading. It certainly plays to the “more is caught than taught” rule.
Because our children watch and model every single thing we do and say,
our actions prove our instruction false if they’re contrary. What
better way to foster a belief in our children of a loving God that desires
a relationship with them, than modeling that relationship as they grow
up?

Kevin
Lucia Kevin Lucia writes for The Press & Sun
Bulletin and The
Relief
Journal. His short fiction has appeared in Coach’s
Midnight Diner, The Relief Journal, All Hallows, Darkened
Horizons Vol. 3 & 4,
NexGen Pulp Magazine Issues 1 & 4, From the Shadows, Morpheus
Tales Magazine,
Bohemian-Alien, Shroud Publishing’s horror anthology, Abominations,
and
Tyndale House’s inspirational anthology Life Savors. He’s
currently
writing a novella for Shroud Publishing’s upcoming novella series, The
Hiram Grange Chronicles. He resides in Castle Creek, New York, with his
wife Abby, daughter Madison and son Zackary. He teaches high school English at
Seton
Catholic Central High School
in Binghamton, New York; and is finishing his Masters of Arts in Creative Writing
at Binghamton University. Visit him at his website and
Myspace page.